Fright
by fadedLily
Summary: The Sohma family becomes acquainted with the Taito family, whom also happens to be the family who cursed them. Hidden truths are discovered, histories uncovered, and a seedy underbelly that no one knew existed. Mature themes within.
1. Unofficial Introduction

Fright: A Furuba Novella Prologue By: Lily (aka. Lily no Anrui)  
  
Synopsis: The Sohmas become acquainted with the Taito family. The Taitos are the ones who cursed them so long ago. Hidden truths are discovered, histories uncovered, and a seedy underbelly that no one knew existed.  
  
Warning: This story contains a bunch of OC's. The majority of pairs are heterosexual, but there are yaoi references present also. Don't forget about Akito being a bastardized sadist.  
  
Comments and constructive criticism are welcome; flames will be cheerfully ignored.  
  
Moonlight streamed down from the heavens in gentle waves to fall on a tatami floor, painting a beautifully macabre picture with the figure lying upon it. The body lay face-down on the ground with its harshly abused back exposed to the calm light. Blood ran in rivulets on the rounded planes of a feminine body, finding their way to the expensive fabric of the yukata the girl wore. The yukata itself was what appeared to be a dusty red with delicate sakura blossoms frozen in motion on its surface. Rimmed in black, the robe hid the blood well. Long dark hair splayed about in a disordered fashion, obscuring the face from any view at all.  
  
"Get up," an indifferent voice ordered. "You look terrible; fix yourself."  
  
With a fine tremble in her shoulders, the girl rose and with shaking fingers, retied the yukata onto her deceptively thin frame.  
  
"I've called Hatori-he should be here in a moment," Akito spat out, before stalking over to the slightly raised dais set at the end of the receiving room. As if on cue, there was a polite knock at the door, and the screen slid back to reveal the doctor, looking completely unruffled even at the absurdly late hour.  
  
"You wanted to see me, Akito?" Hatori asked, his voice giving away nothing as he knelt on the tatami floor. However, his eyes flicked repeatedly to the still and silent girl bathed in moonlight.  
  
"Yes," Akito said, that one word sounding like a curse, "Tend to her." The last phrase was snapped out, Akito's unstable nature getting the better of him. He flung an arm out in the general direction that the girl sat in with her head bowed. Hatori nodded succinctly and moved swiftly to the injured girl with his medical bag. With a gently hand, he touched the girl's shoulder. The small gesture of comfort did not go unnoticed, and the girl smiled, just a tiny bit, her teeth glinting impossibly white in the moonlight. "I'm going to need you to undo your robe," Hatori said gently. Wordlessly, the girl nodded and undid the yukata once again to reveal her blood-soaked back to the cool spring air. She caught the doctor's nearly silent gasp of shock, and the widening of his eyes was a telltale mark in the darkness.  
  
Then Hatori's professionalism overcame him and he went to get a bowl filled with water and a rag. The doctor wiped off the strange crimson paint, revealing her pale skin and the crude gashes torn into it by a whip. He noticed the weapon off in a corner and was amazed that Akito would have the audacity to do this to someone and not even bother to hide it. Hatori wiped iodine over the cuts as a disinfectant, and applied an herbal salve to help it heal without scarring. Then the doctor wound a bandage around her upper body, that being the only way to cover it all, and winced when he felt her indrawn hiss of air as the bandage wound around bruised ribs.  
  
Finally the doctor was done, having completed his task and moved back, beginning to clean up. The girl stood up fluidly, moving with an inherent grace present even in the throes of pain, and drew her yukata closed as she straightened. Her long hair slid back to reveal a delicately beautiful face with dark eyes, high cheekbones, a dainty nose, and full lips which were curved in a small smile full of apprehension, gratefulness, and even self- loathing.  
  
"Doomo arigatou, Hatori-san," (1) she said, the edges of her red yukata brushing against his knees as she walked past him.  
  
"Do itashimashite, Riri-san,"(2) Hatori replied, his voice merely a ripple on the water.  
  
Riri was half-way across the floor, heading to the bedroom when Akito's voice came like a slap in the face. "Remember what I said earlier." The girl stopped, hands clenching at her sides as anger boiled up underneath the surface of her skin. Shaking with rage, she knelt down again until she was on all fours. "That's a good girl; crawl."  
  
On her hands and knees, hair trailing on the ground, she did the only thing she could. The girl, Riri, crawled across the room with subconscious grace, halting when she reached the shoji screen leading to the bedroom. With her head held down, she snapped out, "Satisfied?"  
  
Akito looked pleased at her subtle rebellion, and sounded smug when he answered her. "Quite." The girl slipped inside the room and slid the door closed. Tears pressed against her eyelids, but she swallowed them back down, let them rain down on the inside. She was tired of playing with Akito. So tired. Only her second night back in town and already he was up to his old tricks. She felt battered, mentally and physically, and wanted nothing more than to sink into oblivion.  
  
Without hesitation, Riri crawled onto the carefully made futon and did just that, already anticipating the rude awakening. Only until tomorrow night, she repeated the mantra in her head. Only until tomorrow night.  
  
TBC...  
  
Not much explaining going on in this part, but wait for the next one. It will get better, and my motives will become clearer.  
  
(1) Thank you very much, Mr. Hatori.  
  
(2) You're welcome, Ms. Riri. 


	2. Official Introduction

Fright: 

A Furuba Novella

Chapter 1

By: Lily (aka. Lily no Anrui)

I won't bother with talking too much. However, I was disappointed with the unenthused response I had to the last part. Only one review? I feel rejected. Oh, and I forgot to mention this before, but I don't own Fruits Basket. Any new characters belong to me, though. 

Shigure sighed heavily as it continued to storm heavily outside. It appeared that the weather was against them all that day. Dark clouds obliterated any light that may have been present and lightning split jagged lines across the sky. The thunder was almost deafening in its constant roar. Poetic, Shigure thought darkly. 

Feeling lethargic due to the weather, the novelist shuffled down the hall and into the common room where Yuki, Tohru, and Kyou sat watching television. Well, laying in Kyou's case. The cat was looked miserable, like he usually did when the weather was like this. 

Just as Shigure was bending over to sit down, there was a series of loud, frantic knocks that reverberated throughout the house. "Who could that be?" Shigure wondered out loud. 

"I don't know, but you'd better answer it," Yuki said, giving Shigure his usual you're-an-idiot look. Shigure tactfully ignored Yuki's comment, and followed the urgent knocking to the front door. Opening it, he found Momiji, looking like a wet rag doll, a sheep under one arm, and a tiger cub under the other. "Konnichi wa, Shigure-san," Momiji began, his voice lacking its usual effervescent tone, "I hope I'm not bothering you. We ran into a little trouble." 

"No, not at all! Come in, Momiji-kun, and hurry! You're sopping wet!" Shigure cried, leaping back and ushering the blond boy inside. Momiji removed his shoes, as was customary, but stumbled a little, badly off balance with both Hiro and Kisa occupying his arms. It was then Shigure noticed that the rabbit was shaking slightly, and looking a bit blue. 

"Here," Shigure said and took the two animals from the blond boy, who seemed to be having trouble just keeping himself upright. "What happened?" 

"Well," Momiji paused, being forced to sneeze, "It wasn't raining earlier, so we figured we would come by for a visit. Actually, Kisa and I decided that, Hiro just tagged along. Then it started to rain. At first it wasn't so bad, but no one had brought a jacket. Kisa got cold really fast, and started to cough and sneeze. Then she changed. For a while Hiro and I took turns carrying her; we still figured we could make it here. Then Hiro changed too! And I had to carry them the rest of the way here. I didn't know what else to do, Shigure!" 

"I know, Momiji. Come into the house," the novelist said and turned away to lead them further into the house. It was then that Shigure heard the telltale poof, signaling that Momiji had finally succumbed to the weather's effects and changed. Smoke filled the area, and when it cleared there was a small yellow bunny on the floor, looking very sick. 

Tohru stepped out of the common room, her eyes widening upon the sight of Hiro, Kisa, and Momiji all in their animal forms. "Oh no, Shigure, what happened?" The girl quickly ran and took a hold of Momiji, and from behind Shigure felt someone tap his shoulder. The novelist turned and found Yuki, holding out his hands expectantly. Nodding, Shigure passed Hiro onto the silver haired boy. 

"Let's get them into the common room. It's warmest in there," Shigure said, hoping he was sounding like a calm adult when really he had no clue what he was doing. Once the three children were situated, Shigure picked up the phone and called Hatori. 

The doctor answered on the fifth ring, sounding annoyed. "Moshi moshi. Sohma Hatori." 

"Hatori-kun! I need a little help here!" Shigure said in a sing-song voice. 

"I can't. I'm busy." 

"With what?" Shigure cried, wondering what could be more important than three sick children. 

"This weather has Akito's illness acting up," Hatori replied, in his usual monotone. 

"But Hatori," Shigure whined, "Momiji, Kisa, and Hiro all showed up at my house and they're really sick!" 

The other line was silent for a moment. "I'll send someone over." That was it, and then the line went dead. Shigure hung up, feeling disappointed, and went back into the common room. Tohru had swathed the animal children up in blankets, hoping that would help, and now sat against the wall with Yuki and Kyou, all three of them feeling pretty much useless. 

"Hatori's sending someone over soon to look at them," Shigure muttered suddenly, to break the tension which had been dancing in the air. 

"Who?" Yuki asked, his eyes narrowing as he tried to recall anyone else in the family that qualified as a medical professional. Kyo seemed to be going through his own mental checklist as well. "I don't remember any more doctors in the Sohma family. At least not ones that know about the curse," Kyou spit out abruptly. 

Shigure shrugged, also curious as to whom Hatori trusted enough to let them tend to their family needs. As if in answer to their curious thoughts there was a knock at the door. Shigure turned to answer it, but Yuki was up and out of the room faster than the lightning in the sky. Before Shigure even got halfway down the hallway the rat was opening the door to reveal an unfamiliar figure. Shocked, Shigure stared over Yuki's shoulder and mumbled out a name. 

"Shigure-san, it has been a long time," the girl said in a soft voice that somehow carried. Yuki stepped aside, mouth hanging open in shock as she entered. The girl was petite, with long violet hair pulled back in a loose braid. She wore thick soled mary janes, and a charcoal grey skirt-suit from Union Jack. Her grey eyes scanned the room, lingering over Yuki and finally landing back on Shigure. 

"Riri…I- I had no idea you were in town," Shigure stuttered out. 

"Most don't. I'm not attending school until Monday," Riri answered, a sardonic smile gracing her features. "I'm sorry for showing up here so abruptly. I would have called, but Saikoubi said it was urgent. At least that's what Hatori told her." 

"Saikoubi…" Shigure muttered, "Ah, yes, your cousin." 

Yuki eyes flicked back on forth between the violet haired stranger and Shigure, wondering who she was and how she seemed to know Hatori and Shigure so well. Finally he dared to voice his question out to Shigure. 

"Ah, introductions! How rude of me!" the novelist cried, falling back into his over dramatic role easily. "Sohma Yuki, this is Taito Riri. Riri, this is Yuki, Kawaia High's student council president." Riri bowed upon introductions, as did Yuki. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Yuki." The rat mumbled something of the like before reminding them why they were all here. "Shouldn't we be checking the children?" Yuki asked pointedly. 

"Yes, of course," Riri affirmed, "If you will lead the way." 

Turning, Yuki did so, but hesitated at the door to the common room where Kyou and Tohru still waited patiently. As though she could read his thoughts, Riri suddenly said, "I know about the curse already." Nodding, Yuki slid open the door and revealed the bunny, sheep, and tiger swaddled in blankets like the baby Jesus. Except more of them. 

"Well…" Riri began as she moved farther into the room, "They certainly have gotten themselves into a predicament, haven't they?" The question was rhetoric, requiring no answer. For awhile the violet haired girl simply stood over the children. She looked lost in thought and had it not been for her hands, clasped tightly in front of her, fidgeting, Yuki would have thought she was examining them from a distance. 

"Ano…Riri-san, aren't you supposed to um…you know?" Shigure prompted, shifting nervously from foot to foot. 

"Can you take the others out of the room?" Riri asked quietly. Yuki assumed she meant Kyou and Tohru. It was the only acknowledgment she had made of them since she entered. The cat and the human both sat still along the side of the room, curiously watching the odd violet haired girl who had suddenly appeared from seemingly nowhere. 

Shigure nodded, eager to fulfill any requests if it would help Hiro, Kisa, and Momiji get better soon. "Kyou, Tohru, Yuki, will you please come with me and wait outside of the room?" 

"Whatever," the redhead said in traditional fashion as he rose and stalked out of the room. Tohru rose slower, glancing worriedly at her small friends, and left the room gnawing on a thumbnail. Yuki glanced at the door, glanced at Shigure, but eventually his gaze fell to the purple haired girl. "I think I'll stay here. Just in case Taito-san needs any help." The silver haired boy looked up at Shigure, who looked back at him with widened eyes, a million responses flowing in them.  

"It's up to Riri-san," Shigure finally settled with. Both men looked at the girl still standing over the children, waiting for her demands to be filled. Riri locked gazes with the dog, seeming to send him a silent communication. Then she moved her unsettling steel gaze to Yuki, and nodded. "It's fine." 

Shigure nodded and left silently, shutting the door behind him. The room was awkwardly silent, with Yuki waiting anxiously for Riri to begin the examination. He scrutinized her form, looking for any telltale signs he'd learned to read from Hatori that she was a doctor. "You have no clue what you're doing, do you?" He accused suddenly. 

"Not one." The admittance was reluctant and accompanied by a faint blush. "My cousin, Saikoubi, is the doctor. Actually, she's a veterinarian, but took a double major with pediatrics." 

"So why exactly are you here?" Yuki asked, completely confused and outraged that Hatori would send someone not even qualified to take care of their family. 

"My skills can be of great help during illnesses." 

She was being vague; Yuki didn't like vague. "Get to the point." The rat knew he was being rude, but quite frankly didn't care. His family was on the line here; his little cousins at that. It was his job, at least, to look out for them. 

"I can heal with magic. Similar to how your family changes into the zodiac animals. Same concept; different usage." 

Oh. Well that certainly explained it. 

"If you don't mind, I'd like to begin now," Riri said, kneeling down next to Kisa. 

"Do you need anything to do this?" 

"No, just concentration. However, thank you for asking." The purple haired girl closed her eyes, hands still tucked in her lap. For a long time things were perfectly silent with an anticipatory air. Yuki knelt down a few feet away from Riri, watching carefully as she let her hands begin to hover in the air over Kisa's tiger-cub forehead. As he stared they began to glow with a soft lilac colored light, then the hands touched the tiger and she seemed to absorb the glow, her features becoming lighter, less pained. 

However, Yuki noticed that as Kisa was looking better Riri was looking worse. Her lips were pulled down in a grimacing frown, her eyes closed tightly, and jaw clenching. Abruptly there was the poofing noise of Kisa changing back to her human form. She looked normal, Yuki observed. Maybe a little damp, but okay. 

With a gasp, Riri wrenched her hands away from Kisa, the ethereal glow dying down immediately. Her breath came I quick pants. The rat eyed the healer in concern. "Are you okay?" he asked, eyebrows drawing down in a frown. "Fine…I'm fine," the girl answered, pressing one hand to her chest. 

Scooting around Kisa, the purple haired girl sat next to Momiji and repeated the process, looking worse and worse even as Momiji was regenerated and restored. A light dew of cold sweat had broken out on Riri's forehead, and her hands shook as they reached for Hiro. "Didn't expect them to be this bad…" she murmured absently. As her hands made contact, it was like the sheep was a vacuum, sucking up everything the girl had left. 

With a soft cry, Riri fainted, even as Hiro changed back to his human form. Acting without thought, the rat caught her, noticing in surprise that he didn't change. That was but a distant thought though as he called out, "Shigure! Shigure, help!" 

The inu came running in without further ado. "What is it, Yuki?" he cried as he looked around frantically. Yuki had never seen him in such a state. Tohru was in the door next, leaping for joy as her eyes fell on the three jyuunishi. Kyou followed more slowly, stopping at the door, and asking point blank, "What the fuck's wrong with her?" He nodded, indicating Riri. 

"Shigure, something's wrong with Taito-san!" Yuki cried, still holding the unconscious girl in his arms, still in his human form. Shigure's eyes fell on her, and widened, "Uh oh. Let me call the Taito main house." The dog shuffled back out of the room, hurrying to the phone. 

"Why aren't you changed?" Kyou asked, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. 

Yuki shook his head, eyes wide. "I don't know," he answered quietly, "I haven't the slightest idea." 

TBC…    


	3. New Pawns

Fright: 

A Furuba Novella

Chapter 2

By: Lily (aka. Lily no Anrui)

Again, another unenthused response, but I must persist with writing this story or I shall simply go mad from the strain it puts on my brain. Reviews, this time, please? Also from the last chapter I mentioned Union Jack, which is a popular Japanese clothing line.[] I obviously don't own that, and since I haven't mentioned it before, I don't own Fruits Basket either. This is the only time I will put in a disclaimer. 

Shigure dialed the Taito main house number from memory, musing on how long it had been. When was the last time he'd been forced to dial this number? Ah, yes, he remembered now. It had been nearly three years ago, before Yuki moved in with him. He and Hatori had found a violet-haired Riri lying in a pool of her own blood, near death. Akito had been rough, rougher than usual. Hatori had snapped at him, turning with blazing eyes and ordered Shigure to call Riri's family. The doctor had been able to stabilize her, and the elder members of the Taito family had come soon after, hauling Riri home. Then the girl mysteriously vanished, never to be seen or heard from again. Most had assumed she'd died. 

Finally someone picked up, a sleepy male voice, quite angry at obviously having his nap interrupted. "What?!" The voice screamed over the phone line. Shigure held the phone away from his ear to avoid deafness. 

"Hello," he began cheerfully, "This is Sohma Shigure. Riri is at my house and has passed out due to healing expenditures." 

"Shigure?" the voice asked suspiciously, "Oh yeah, the dog. Alright, I'll be over there in a bit." 

"Wait! Do you—" Shigure was cut off as the man on the other end of the phone slammed the receiver down harshly. "—even know where it is?…" the dog finished lamely. 

Meanwhile, Yuki was still supporting the fallen healer. No one seemed to have gotten over the fact that he had not changed. Nor did he appear to be starting to. Kyou moved closer to Riri, peering at her curiously. "What the fuck is she?" he asked bluntly. That was the question of the hour, wasn't it? "Give her here," Kyou ordered, holding out his arms. 

For some reason the rat was reluctant to place the purple haired girl in his enemy's arms. He reasoned that since Kyou was his enemy it was logical that he should want to deprive him of everything possible. At the back of his mind though, he knew the real reason and it was nothing so petty as that. It simply felt nice to be near a normal person and not be one-tenth the fraction of their size. Finally the rat shifted, letting her fall into Kyou's arms. The redhead cautiously hugged the healer, and started when he didn't change into his cat form. "The fuck?!" he cried, shoving her back at Yuki. 

"You stupid cat, you're going to give her whiplash!" Yuki yelled as he caught the girl easily. 

"Yes, Riri-san is not a rag doll, Kyou, but a living breathing person. Please treat her as such," Shigure said as he walked into the room. "Shigure, why the fuck don't we change?" Kyou cried. Tohru finally spoke up from her position as the observer. "Yes, Shigure, why don't they change? I thought it happened automatically when they hugged a member of the opposite sex who wasn't a member of the family." 

Shigure shifted, eyes settling on Yuki carefully supporting the violet-haired girl. "Well, she's a Taito." He shrugged like that explained it all. 

"What the fuck does that have to do with anything?" Kyou yelled. 

"If you'd shut up for two seconds, I'm sure you'd know." Yuki snapped back. 

"You shut up, you damn rat!" the redhead shouted, charging up to Yuki like he was about to punch him. Shigure's voice halted them all. "Kyou! Sit down!" Amazingly enough, the cat halted, and sat down looking very peeved. Shigure took a deep calming breath and rubbed his temple where a headache was beginning to form. 

"As you know, the Sohmas are cursed into taking on the forms of the twelve Chinese zodiac signs, and the cat. It's been this way for many, many years, but it wasn't always this way," Shigure explained. Just as he opened his mouth to go on, the doorbell rang. "Damn." The inu walked out of the room to get it, leaving behind three open mouthed teenagers, one unconscious healer, and three unconscious children. 

"That's it?" Tohru muttered in the dead silent room. 

"Guess so," Kyou answered like he hadn't been left dangling by a thread. 

Yuki did not respond at all, he was still too busy staring at the spot where Shigure had stood. He was sure there was more to it than just that. Shifting again, he looked down at the girl, Riri. Most of her upper body was sprawled across his lap, and her right hand had flopped bonelessly to lie parallel to his own hand, banded around her to keep her from slipping and falling. A centimeter more and her hand would rest on his wrist. Almost like she'd heard his thought, Riri's hand suddenly slipped down, her fingertips resting above his pulse point. 

The instant she touched him, an odd sensation overcame Yuki. It was like tunnel vision, but it wasn't affecting his sight. It wasn't a sense at all, merely a feeling. Like a vacuum had been placed inside him and was slowly, painstakingly sucking up any dirt. Gasping, Yuki wrenched his arm away from Riri's limp hand and like that the sensation stopped. It was as though someone had thrown a switch inside of him; on with the lights, off with the lights. "The fuck..?" he murmured to himself. 

It wasn't often Yuki swore, so even his quiet murmuring caused Kyou and Tohru to look in his direction. "What?" Kyou asked sharply. "Nothing," the rat replied, shaking his head. 

Just then Shigure came back into the room, leading behind him two crimson haired people near their age. The girl's hair was long, reaching down the end of her back, and she had gold eyes, narrowed in suspicion. She wore black leather shorts and a cut up t-shirt from some band he'd never heard of. The boy's crimson hair was cropped about twelve centimeters from his head and styled so it fell in chunks around his face. The boy and girl could almost be twins except for his green eyes. He was even dressed similarly to the girl in black leather shorts, a t-shirt, and a leather vest. There definitely seemed to be some sort of dress code no one else was aware of. 

"So I see you've already discovered you can hug the Taitos," the boy said with a sardonic smile on his face. He looked down at Riri and Yuki, smiling widening until it was a full-blown grin. "I also see that Riri tried to absorb energy from you." 

"What?" Tohru gasped, knowing nothing of Yuki's earlier plight. 

"Is that what that was?" Yuki murmured to himself. It made sense what with the whole vacuum cleaner metaphor. "How can you tell?" the rat asked out loud. 

For the first time the girl spoke, her clear voice carrying throughout the room. "It's in your aura. We can still see it, but it's a little more faded than it should be. By the looks of it, she didn't get very far with you." At that observation, the girl's mouth quirked up a bit into a smirk. 

"You must be the rat," the boy said as he knelt down next to Riri, uncomfortably close to Yuki. "Well, yes," Yuki had no choice but to respond. The redhead nodded. "Makes sense. The rat was Riri's first animal to call. It's only natural she'd summon her strongest one to aid her." 

"A what?" Kyou asked, voicing the question Yuki had been about to ask. 

"An animal to call," the girl answered, like it should have been obvious. 

"They don't know," was all Shigure said. 

The golden eyes of the girl widened. "Oh! Should I explain? It's the least I can do while he's doing that," she said, and nodded at the boy who appeared to be meditating next to Riri. Shigure nodded his assent. 

"Well then, let's start at the beginning. As far back as we Taitos can remember, we've always been gifted. Magic or whatever you want to call it has always run in our veins. It comes naturally to us. Each member of the family has their own special gifts, either dealing with the elements, an animal, or simply one specific thing, like healing. The stronger you are, generally the more gifts you have." 

The girl paused in her lecture to watch the boy gently pluck Riri from Yuki's arms and settle her with her upper half lying in his lap. Then he picked up both arms, wrapping first one hand then the other around the pulse points in his wrists. "Why are you doing that?" Yuki found himself whispering. The boy looked up and whispered back, "Best energy transaction places are the pulse points and the third eye. The forehead," he elaborated at Yuki's look of confusion. Then the boy jolted slightly and settled into silence. 

Nodding like that was supposed to happen, the girl continued where she left off. "You see, when Riri was healing your kids over there, she gave them a lot of her energy, life force, chi, whatever you want to call it, in exchange for the negative energy of their sickness. Her body will metabolize that negative chi much quicker than their's will. She would have been fine, but she didn't replace that lost positive chi with anything, so she passed out from exhaustion. That's about all there is to it." 

"So what is he doing now?" Yuki asked, staring at the intimate position of the violet haired girl and red haired boy. 

"Why, silly, he's replacing her lost energy by giving her some of his own," the girl answered like it should have been obvious. Yuki nodded his understanding as Kyou interrupted with, "So what about the animal to call thing?" 

"Did I forget to explain about that?" the girl asked, looking up at Shigure. The inu nodded distractedly, staring off into space. He was probably thinking of a new way to torture Mii. "Oh, well, as I said before a person's power can be focused on animals. An animal to call is like that particular person's totem. They can gain power through them, communicate telepathically, and even transform into that animal. As with before the more animals you can call the stronger you are." 

"So…the Taitos are witches?" Tohru asked, completely uncomprehending. 

A shrug from the redheaded girl was all the response they got. "Witches, psychics, sorcerers, magicians. Whichever you prefer," the boy said, straightening up as Riri opened her eyes. "How long was I out?" she groaned. 

"A good half an hour, I'd say. What do you think, Jem-chan?" the boy asked, directing the question at the redheaded girl. "Sounds about right," she replied. Riri stood slowly, like she hurt in certain places, and turned to Shigure. "Well, Shigure-san, I've done my job. The children should be up and about in a few hours," Riri said, "Now if you'll excuse us, we've burdened ourselves on you enough this night." 

"Oh no!" Shigure cried, "Please stay for tea! It's the very least we can do after we made you pass out and all that!" 

"Oh please, can we?" the redheaded girl asked, turning pleading eyes to Riri. The redheaded boy was also silently pleading, but for different reasons. After his sudden energy exchange he felt lethargic and needed some time to rejuvenate himself. 

With a sigh, Riri conceded. "Alright. Thank you, Shigure-san." 

"Ah, no problem! Always happy to have you over!" Shigure cried. Then he turned to Tohru with a question in his eyes. "Tohru?" 

"Iya! How rude of me! After all of Taito-san's help all I did was sit here like a stupid space case! I'll go make the tea right away!" Tohru ran off, already back into her normal spazzy mode. The Taitos watched her go with odd looks on all of their faces. Riri had raised her eyebrow at the girl's odd behavior. Jem, the redheaded girl, simply stared after Tohru with an odd frown in place. The redheaded boy had smirked at Tohru's retreating form, deriving some strange amusement from it. 

"Well, let's go into the dining room. After all, I'm sure that's where Tohru plans to serve the tea," Shigure said and bounced away happily. Kyou, Yuki, Riri, Jem, and the redheaded boy whose name was still unknown followed at a more somber pace. "He's still as odd as ever," Jem mused out loud. "Yes, he is," Riri responded. 

Once they were all seated, official introductions for the two redheads were made, which Shigure performed. "Yuki, Kyou, this is Taito Jem. Jem-san, this is Sohma Yuki and Kyou." The redheaded girl nodded and murmured the polite replies, but the suspicion in her gold eyes never quite went away. Next was the boy. "And this is Taito Angel." The redhaired boy shook their hands, eyeing them up in a way that made both Sohmas squirm uncomfortably. "Don't you mean Tenchi?" Kyou asked, squinting his eyes. "No, it's really Angel, as in the English word. My mother was odd," Angel replied without taking offense. He was used to it. 

Introductions made, everyone made small talk until the tea arrived. It went something like, 'awkward silence, nonverbal communication between the Taitos.' 

"So where are you all going to school?" Shigure asked. 

"Kawaia High," was the smooth response from Jem. 

"Hontou ni?" (1) Yuki asked without much enthusiasm. 

"Hai," (2) Angel replied, "Jem-chan and I are going to be sophomores. Riri-chan will be a senior." 

Kyou sat silently, brewing in his usual hostile manner. "Oh, Taito-san, you'll be in the same grade as Kyou and I. Perhaps I could show you around," Yuki replied, trying to be his usual eager to please self. 

"Kekko desu. (3) I don't want to be shown any special treatment; I just want to blend in," Riri replied. Slightly shocked that someone would actually refuse him, Yuki found it hard to respond. "Okay," he said at last, "If you change your mind though, the offer still stands." 

At that moment Tohru came through the door carefully balancing a large tray full of tea, cups, and snacks. "Thank you, Tohru-chan," Shigure said immediately, "Everything looks wonderful." The novelist beamed with childlike delight. 

"You're welcome, Shigure-san," Tohru smiled and sat down beside Kyou. 

Tea was drank in easy silence, broken only by the occasional voice of someone or another talking. The Taitos hurried without seeming like they were hurrying, wanting only to go home and rest up before school on Monday, something they all generally disliked. "Thank you, Tohru-san," Angel said as he stood up and offered a hand to both of cousins. "Yes, everything was very nice," Jem agreed. "Your hospitality was much appreciated," Riri finished, before accepting the offered hand and standing up. Jem ignored her cousin's attempt at being gentlemanly and stood up on her own. 

"Ah, thank you for all your help this evening," Tohru said in response, lightly blushing from all the praise she was getting. 

"It was no problem at all," Riri said, cutting in smoothly, "However, we really must be going now. Thank you all. Oyasumi nasai (4)." The three Taitos were escorted out by a cheerfully waving Shigure, and shown the door. It was only then that Kyou remembered his question. "Hey, they didn't say why we can hug 'em!" 

TBC…

Reviews…-review monster comes out- Give me reviews…Next chapter is the Taitos return to public education. 

(1) Really? 

(2) Yes.

(3) No thank you. 

(4) Good night. 

Interesting meanings…

1. Taito means "equal or equivalent" in Japanese. 

2. Riri means "idealistic, sensitive, or inspirational".

3. Ayame means "Iris". 

4. Hana means "flower".

5. Kyoko means "mirror".

6. Mine means "resolute protector".

7. Saikoubi [mentioned] is Japanese for "Callisto", which means "beautiful little one".

8. Haru means "born in the spring".

9. Yuki means either "lucky" or "snow". 

10. Kyo means "today" or as a suffix, "religion". I've also heard it means "lie". 


End file.
